Broken window in jet plane

On 2006-04-10, Eduardo K wrote:
That said, one of the regulars says a pilot died in a similar
incident in 1998 when a windshield on a 747 fell off and the pilot was
sucked and froze to death. Is it true? I googled a lot and could only find
links to 'Lost' series websites...

There was a case in the late 1980s in Britain where due to an improperly
fitted windscreen (on the captain's side) during maintenance on an
aircraft, the entire windshield half departed the airframe.

The aircraft was a BAC 1-11 (a twin jet airliner which looks similar to
a DC-9). It happened at FL230 while the aircraft was climbing over
Oxfordshire on its way to Spain. The captain had loosened his seatbelt,
and he was actually "sucked" [0] out from his seat even though he hadn't
actually removed his seat belt. Two of the cabin crew hung onto his
legs. The captain was splayed out over the nose of his plane for 15
minutes. He suffered some frost bite and fractures, but survived the
ordeal.

[0] really blown out as the air made a rapid exit from the aircraft,
propelling the unfortunate captain out of the hole where the windscreen
used to be.

--
Dylan Smith, Port St Mary, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net

Morgans wrote:

There was a case where a mechanic matched new screws from looking at the
old screws, instead of going to the repair book and getting the right
screws, while replacing a windshield in an airliner. The screws he used
were slightly undersized, and they were not able to hold, once they got
to a high pressure differential. On the first (or one of the first)
flights, the windshield blew out. Other pilot, and I think stew, held
him from blowing completely out, but he was most of the way out. I
don't remember if he died or not.


He survived to fly again, I saw the documentary. The accident was a
British carrier.

AFAIR, the pilot who held his feet retired, never to fly again...

Here's a story of that one.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...html?from=top5
--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"Morgans" wrote in message
...

"Peter Duniho" wrote

Sounds like your BS detector got set off, and it also sounds like your BS
detector is working properly.

There was a case where a mechanic matched new screws from looking at the
old screws, instead of going to the repair book and getting the right
screws, while replacing a windshield in an airliner. The screws he used
were slightly undersized, and they were not able to hold, once they got to
a high pressure differential. On the first (or one of the first) flights,
the windshield blew out. Other pilot, and I think stew, held him from
blowing completely out, but he was most of the way out. I don't remember
if he died or not.
--
Jim in NC

On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 at 15:41:35 in message
, Peter Duniho
wrote:
"Eduardo K." wrote in message
...
[...]

I haven't seen the details of the event as originally stated, but your
description doesn't sound plausible to me. There would be significant
airflow through a window, no doubt, but I doubt it would be enough to suck a
person (whatever is meant by that), and freezing to death would require more
than some localized frostbite.

Something similar did happen in the UK to a BAC 1-11 I think it was. I
recall reading details of the incident.

It occurred because of faulty maintenance. The Captain's screen had been
removed and replaced but almost all of the bolts used were wrong and too
short.

In flight, but not too high as I recall the windshield blew out and the
Captain was pulled partly out though it. Other crew on the flight deck
held on to him and the first officer landed successfully.

The Captain I seem to recall was not seriously injured.

That one definitely happened
--
David CL Francis

"David CL Francis" wrote in message
...
Something similar did happen in the UK to a BAC 1-11 I think it was. I
recall reading details of the incident.

I didn't say something similar didn't happen. I said the specific incident
described didn't happen.

In article ,
says...
"David CL Francis" wrote in message
...
Something similar did happen in the UK to a BAC 1-11 I think it was. I
recall reading details of the incident.

I didn't say something similar didn't happen. I said the specific incident
described didn't happen.

The details weren't quite right - but it did - happen. It wasn't a 747
and he didn't die - ok?

I believe you stated:
I haven't seen the details of the event as originally stated, but your
description doesn't sound plausible to me. There would be significant
airflow through a window, no doubt, but I doubt it would be enough to
suck a person (whatever is meant by that), and freezing to death would
require more than some localized frostbite.


So yer wrong about that too

--
Duncan

"Dave Doe" wrote in message
. nz...
So yer wrong about that too

Wrong about what? Nothing in the text you quoted was contradicted.

"a pilot died in a similar
incident in 1998 when a windshield on a 747 fell off and the pilot was
sucked and froze to death. "

The pilot didn't die
It wasn't in 1998
It wasn't a 747
The windshield didn't fall off (it blew out)
The pilot was only partly sucked out
He didn't freeze to death.

Other than that, the statement was correct